Undersea Prison

Stratton #4

by Duncan Falconer

After the British military lose an officer to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, a desperate race begins to find his killers. Little do the assailants know that the precious information they have stolen could bring down the entire network of Western intelligence in the Mid-East. But then one of them is captured by U. S. troops and flown to the States for interrogation. And so begins a nail-biting, claustrophobic, and explosive thriller that will ultimately lead British operative John Stratton to the Styx penitentiary, America’s undersea prison. How do you break in to a jail below the ocean? Can Stratton get the information back without the government discovering him? And is everyone in the prison really who they seem to be?

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Adventure, Terrorism, Military Fiction, Ebooks

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Dee Haddrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic thriller starring John Stratton; this time he is sent undercover into the escape-proof underwater prison, ominously known as Styx. With the usual gamut of bad guys, good guys and fast paced action, reading this was like watching an action movie. Very good.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a tale of international espionage in a Guantanamo Bay-style under water prison this book was highly entertaining and some what educational. The author is a wicked teller of backstories and the main characters motivations are fleshed out by their pasts. The main character, a British SBS agent is not impervious to accidents and is definitely no Bond, even though he does have a few impossible escapes.

The tale revolves around a Taliban soldier who comes across top secret British Intelligence in the form of a chip which he has surgically implanted. When he is captured and thrown in an American jail, the worse interrogation prison ever. In order to get the information back they have to send in their best...or at least the man with the skills to get the job done!

All in all this was a good read, and I might have to pick up a few more of Falconer's books, if only for the lessons I can learn regarding how to flesh out a character's backstory!

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes,pushed to find a post-Christmas read from cheapies at an outback newsagent I just had to avoid the obvious 'no-no's' or those popular writers already covered many moons ago. This close print, thick paperback by Falconer presented and seemed possible. Guess what? It is a well written, fast-paced, interesting modern espionage thriller.
Classical literary asides in places with erudite knowledge of how an underwater facility might function.
The usual i terplay between leading power intlligence services and a teensy romance interest of the mildest, plausible kind towards the result in a rounded, pleasant read. Suiting any adult reader of this genre.

[Jeff King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book from Falconer. I like John Stratton. He's more human and believable than McNab's or Chris Ryan's heroes although more reckless and wildly optimistic about his chances of success. The detail is excellent and Falconer has Frederick Forsyth-levels of planning and detail.

This would make an excellent action film. I can see Jason Statham as Stratton. If you can't afford him, speak to my agent...

[Paul Bolton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good nuts & bolts thriller. As others have said the idea of a underwater prison is a bit out there, but the tale is very well crafted. Got all the major elements: can-do-all hero, shadowy congressmen running a shadowy organisation, strong female heroine...... so it is fun but then it finishes and only one word springs to mind..... I wonder if you think of the same word.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stratton books have long passed the original SBS adventures and are now more into James Bond territory. This novel takes Stratton into an undersea US prison to retrieve a database of British agents in Afghanistan. The usual chaos ensues.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Falconer seems to be able to keep his adventure novels fresh and interesting so far. This is the fourth one and I am still enjoying them. I will continue with this series until one of us wears out. So far so good!

[Ronnie Laws · Rating 5 out of 5]

He gets about does Mr Stratton. Great reading.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Laurence Hibberd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, although I found the premise of an underwater prison a bit of a stretch ! A lightweight adventure with some good cliff hangers.

[Richard E · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too fanciful, reads more like a James Bond rather than the Stratton fans have grown to like. Hopefully, next ones will get back with the program.

[Maree Clarkson · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 Stars *****. *****

[Dawn B]

enjoyed this book

[Tom Tischler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The government closes Guantanimo Bay and opens an underwater prison off the
Gulf of Mexico. The CIA is using it to interrogate Taliban prisoners,theres a
corrupt warden who wants to destroy it. The FBI is conducting operations to
expose it, an insane convict wants to scuttle it in order to escape and on
top of all this a secret micro document belonging to British Military
Intelligence ends up in the hands of a Taliban terrorist who is incaserated
inside the prison. SBS Special Forces Operative John Stratton is assigned
to get it back before anyone finds out. This is another Duncan Falconer
page turner.

[Kimsandara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undersea Prison is the first book I read in the Stratton series
I found the fact that the character was British very refreshing (Yes,I know there is James Bond,Court Gentry, ect...) but this guy is better.
He has some kind of cynicism which I really like. You can see that he is no superhero and that his past as a spy weighs heavily on him much more so than James Bond for example.

Anyway,it was a good read.Not exceptional but still a pretty solid story-line. The thing is everything was straight-forward. There was no real surprise. The only question was how would Stratton get out of the prison alive.

I might try the Gabriel Allon series next.

[PijanaPoMalinach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka "Podmorskie więzienie" Duncana Falconera jest czwartą cześcią z cyklu o agencie wywiadu brytyjskiego - Johnie Strattonie.
Jest to moje pierwsze spotkanie z twórczością tego pana i powiem, że się nie zawiodłam. Z miłą chęcią sięgnę po kolejne jego książki. Jest to wciągająca powieść i trzymająca w napięciu. Akcja dzieję się w podmorskim więzieniu Styksie. Jest tu dużo niebezpiecznych i dramatycznych momentów.
Ogólnie polecam!!!!

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual in my case I was thrown into this series right at the end, and so it was obviously very confusing in many area`s. Typically far to much time was taken up on introducing new characters, and the plot, although believable was fairly boring, with a less than exiting climax.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great work but discovered while reading this I'm extremely claustrophobic. It made for many nights of bad dreams and having to take extended breaks here and there to get my head back on straight. Well done!

[Christopher Dodds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best Stratton books by the author, it was engaging with plenty of tense moments and well done fight scenes a really enjoyable read and makes me to continue to read more of the series.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like watching a action movie

[Kingsley]

A good adventure yarn. Would not rave about it.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book fast pace, another book from an author who has the experience rather than doing research... GC

[Patrick Ellard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another top quality spy novel from Duncan Falconer right up until the ending which was far too abrupt, almost as if he ran out of ideas.

[Sean C · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Decent pace and characters. A few unrealistic plot twists and amazing coincidences (a pet peeve of mine).

[Mark Kavanagh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn'te even get to the end of this one. Stopped about 2/3 through. Just couldn't muster interest.

[Avi Livson · Rating 3 out of 5]

excellent book.

[ab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far more interesting than the previous books. That's all I can say. Either way I love Stratton, this is basically my guilty pleasure for fictional-action and technical violence.

[Andrew A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Falconer. This was a fast-paced read with a Bond-like hero, except way more rough-around-the-edges, and more human, I think. A fun read.

[Kirrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre spy drama. Mildly gripping.